Helping a Star Dog
by Fox the Writer
Summary: They say that we all need someone to lean on, whether it's family, friends or pets. Ty himself learns this lesson when he arrives to Karn with Buzz for a mission-one that will change his life forever, in the appearance of a feisty dog.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Another new story? Yep! But this one is slightly different than my other stories. Rather than having it solely focus on canon characters, this story will focus on a canon character meeting an OFC. Now hold your horses for a moment! This OFC is different. Why? Well, let me put it this way:

They say that dog is man's best friend.

And here, Ty will certainly get to meet that dog. This is a story about how one man comes to find his dog and a new partner in the Space Ranger Corps. Let us begin that tale here.

Disclaimer: Everyone who is mentioned in this story will forever live in the Mouse House AKA Disney/Pixar. The characters who were never part of the original BLoSC crew are mine and will forever live in my random imagination banks!

* * *

The morning was long and tiring.

Thank the stars it was near noon, the clock striking its twelfth chime. He'd stop by the cafeteria for lunch after his meeting. At least he knew he'd feel somewhat better _there_ after his latest frustration in the Space Ranger Corps. He was far from looking forward to his appointment with his commanding officer.

"Craters…I just know Nebula's gonna chew me out on something big this time. But I hope he doesn't discharge me," Ty spoke to his reflection in the window as he overlooked large streams of stars, celestial neighbors and planets. One such planet was the ocean blue and forest green jewel that was named Capital Planet, floating in near sync with the space station.

But none of this was of any interest to Ty Parsec.

He was more concerned in his appearance, as he prepared himself in mind and body to go into his superior's office. His brown pompadour combed back, his large brown eyes bright and alert, his white and bright green Pulsar 400-Enviro Suit polished. He was all set to go.

"Well…" he said to his near haggard appearance, "Time to do this." He broke away from his reflection and turned to face the door where Nebula was waiting for him. He stepped up to the threshold and knocked on the door three times.

A gravelly voice shouted, "It's open!"

He turned the doorknob, revealing the top officer of the whole organization. Commander Nebula.

The leader of the Space Rangers sat behind his unusually quiet desk. Normally, his sentient robotic desk would be bouncing around with energy and trying to nag Nebula about papers and regulations to sign, but today, it chose to let Nebula sit behind it for this important meeting. No papers would be shoved into his face.

No, today, the aged but athletic Ranger, clad in the same uniform as Ty, had something more serious to discuss with the much younger man. The dark-skinned and tough-as-nails leader looked up from reading the newspaper on his desk.

"Oh, Ranger Parsec. Come in, son. And close the door."

After Ty did what he was told, he then walked over and stood to attention in front of his boss, waiting for whatever Nebula had to say.

Nebula read one more article of his newspaper before noticing Ty was still standing up. He quirked a silver brow. "Well sit down, will ya? Don't be shy."

Ty uttered a 'yes sir' and took a seat into the chair, resting his arms onto his lap.

Nebula regarded the younger man with a penetrating brow before he folded up his newspaper and put it away into a drawer that the desk conveniently opened for him. Once it was out of sight and out of mind, the man closed the drawer and placed his own arms on the desk. He studied Ty, as if trying to figure something out about the Ranger before him.

"So you wanna know why I sent for ya?"

Ty sent a polite nod to his leader. "Yes sir."

Seeing Ty's affirmative reply, the commander wasted no time and got down to business. "Alright then. I gotta know, how long have you been servin' at Star Command?"

The question was unexpected, but Ty managed to answer nonetheless. "Over twenty years, sir."

"Hm."

That 'hm' sent Ty tensing on the inside.

"I see." Nebula stood up from his chair and walked away from the desk over to his window. He overlooked the stars in silence, as if he were waiting for something to happen.

Well, that was very informative. Ty was starting to grow worried. It wasn't like Nebula to be this blunt. When he was short with his responses, that usually meant something was wrong. What was going on? Whatever it was, it was nerve-wracking. He squeezed his hands into fists, trying to maintain some sort of control over his emotion before Nebula could see his nervousness. Luckily, the commander was too involved with his own branch of thinking to notice how the other man was feeling at the current time.

But that would all come to an end as Nebula turned around to face him again. "So you've been here for over twenty years, Parsec...and you haven't been able to find a partner to stick with."

Ty blinked. What did that have to do with anythi-oh."..."

The silence was all Nebula needed. "I thought so. I'm concerned for ya; you haven't been able to find a field partner who's willin' to stand by your side for some time. And before you go off explainin' yourself, " he held up a hand to pause Ty in his attempts to explain, "I'm aware about what happened with you and Buzz. All those missions really did a number on you...among _other_ events."

Ty didn't need to know what Nebula was referring to. "Yes sir. But he and I have buried the hatchet about that now." It was true. After they got through the giant mess consisting of monsters and emotional strain and misguided communication, they made peace and were now much more open and supportive towards one another.

"I know, and I'm glad for it. But I'm still concerned. It's not good for you to always be workin' on missions all by yourself. I think havin' a field partner for you might do you some good and help you to start your way on the road to recovery."

Ty was glad that his boss was looking out for his health, as he would always do for his Rangers, but that didn't mean he was eager to try this suggestion right away. Unable to help himself, Ty sighed and crossed his arms. "Commander, I do want to take it easy after everything that's happened. But...well, if I may be frank, sir, it's not gonna be easy trying to find someone whom I can work with. Buzz has got his team, Rocket's got his own, and Fop...I don't think I need to say anymore after that incident on PC-7. But either way, I don't think it'll get any easier these days with everybody working with each other, and me...well." He looked away from his leader to gaze out into outer space in sadness.

Nebula heaved a sigh of his own, this one made out of patience. "No one said anything about it gettin' any easier. You got a lot on your shoulders, and I don't wanna see you carryin' that load anymore. You've gotta at least try and find a field partner, son. For your sake."

* * *

 **A/N:** So to recap, Nebula's really concerned about Ty here. Moptop's been alone in his missions for some time, which if you've seen the episodes, it's implied that Ty's been all over the place and worked with various people, but doesn't have a steady partner like Buzz does with his crew. It's quite sad when you think about it. What will happen next chapter? You'll see!

Leave a comment below, saying what you liked, hated, thought was awesome, thought what could be polished, etc. I hope you enjoyed it! Peace and have happy days. :)


	2. Chapter 2

Ty just stared out the window as his commander's observation sank into his veins. He knew that Nebula was right; Ty didn't want to go off working by himself on missions all the time. Oh sure, he did work with sentry robots and non-Ranger personnel, and those people were good folk, but it was not the same as working with other Rangers. If anything, working with them was something he missed. Serving with another Ranger meant that you knew what the risks were and you understand what it meant to work in the Space Ranger Corps more so than anybody else who worked for Star Command.

It was not always easy, yes, but to Ty, working with other Rangers meant that you had somebody you could count on no matter what would happen, just as he expected himself to be there for anyone who was in trouble. But from all the events he went through with Buzz over the years, it wasn't exactly a walk in the park to have someone who was willing to stick with you despite the rumors that would spring up.

Although some of those rumors about him as a "damsel in distress" were dismissed, there was another problem he had to face now. Finding someone who would still stick by his side despite his trials with NOS-4-A2….and the Wirewolf. Granted, no one questioned him about the incidents, and certainly treated him better for his services but sometimes it was hard NOT to wonder if the glances he would receive from cadets on occasion had anything to do with the events on Canis Lunis.

It was a pickle he was in.

With another sigh, Ty nodded before looking back at his boss. "Yeah. Well…I'll…I'll give it some thought and then decide how to go about it."

"And I'll help ya. I'm actually lookin' into findin' you a partner, but that'll take awhile too. In the meantime, do your homework and see if there's a Ranger out there who might fit your needs. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir. So…is that all?"

"Not quite yet. It seems, speakin' of field partners, that you're going to be workin' with Lightyear and his team for a mission."

"A mission?"

"Yeah, out on Karn." Nebula didn't blame Ty for forming a small cringe when it came to that vicious planet—any Ranger with common sense would see the dangers that lurked there in the forms of lethal animals. He continued on, "You know about Dr. Ozma Furbanna?"

Ty pondered over Nebula's inquiry about the famed animal research scientist. "Buzz did tell me about her, but I'm not too familiar with her work."

"Well, you're gonna be familiar with her work when you get over to Karn. She's got something she wants to show Star Command, and Buzz wants you to come along. Says he thought the team could use an extra hand when it comes to Karn."

Ty couldn't help but smile a little. Even if he didn't like Karn anymore than he liked doing his taxes for the Galactic Alliance, Star Command's governmental allies, it was good to know that Buzz was still thinking about him and he was attempting to be a better friend. "Heh, good to know that I'll be working with Buzz and his team again. Did he say what it was Dr. Furbanna wanted to reveal?"

"Nah, according to Lightyear, it's a surprise."

Ty quirked a brow. "A surprise?"

Nebula shrugged. "I'm just as lost as you are. But whatever it is, you'd better meet up with Lightyear. He and his team are leavin' pretty soon, but they're havin' a break in the cafeteria. I suggest you get yourself some food before you take off."

Ty took that as a cue to stand up out of his seat. "Yes sir. I'll head over right away."

Nebula also stood up from his seat. "Good. Then get goin." He sent Ty off with a salute. The latter returned the salute and was off on his way.

He opened the door.

"Hey, Parsec!"

He looked back at his commander.

"Remember what we talked about."

Ty's spirits faltered a little, but he didn't show it. He just slowly nodded. "I won't forget, sir."

And he was gone.

* * *

Ty reached the cafeteria line. It was unusually quieter than usual, but this was not too abnormal. Most of the Rangers were out on missions or patrols by around this time or another. It was a good thing too; Ty wasn't too much in the mood to hang around large crowds now. He wanted to pick up some food on his tray as he stood in the buffet line, find a spot to sit, and eat his meal.

"Hey, Ty!"

Ty turned to meet the owner of that well known tone.

The voice's owner belonged to a light-skinned man in a white Space Ranger suit. The man's wide smile and enthusiastic hand wave towards Ty was characteristic of him. He was Buzz Lightyear.

"Over here!"

Buzz was currently waving at him from a lunch table, and he was not alone. He was surrounded by three other Space Rangers.

Mira Nova, the only female of the team and second in command, was sitting by Buzz's side. She was a Tangean, with light aqua skin and fiery red hair. She was known to possess powers of phasing through walls and also known for her royal status as Princess of her homeplanet, Tangea. Sitting across from her were two other companions.

One of them was the largest member of the group. He was a friendly and overeager Jo-Adian by the name of Booster. He was known for his incredible strength and naturally red complexion. Initially a janitor working within Star Command's walls, he worked his way up to working alongside Buzz, who was his idol.

His little buddy sitting next to him by comparison was a robot created to serve the Space Ranger Corps named XR. He was a wisecracker, often trying to score in jokes into situations however he could and often reminding others of his importance in the organization. He was known for providing tools and backup support when it came to technology.

And all of them were putting on their welcome mats to invite Ty to their table, to which Ty couldn't help but smile at. He picked up his tray now full of food and made his way over to greet them. "Hey," he casually greeted.

Buzz and Mira scooted over to make room for their guest.

"Hey, Ty. Commander Nebula tell you about our mission?"

He nodded. "Yep, and I'm glad to be a part of it. Thanks for adding me onto your team for this assignment."

Buzz flashed his million watt smile in response to Ty's own genuine if weary one. He temporarily put a hand on Ty's shoulder, as if to reaffirm their friendship. "Sure thing, buddy." This made Ty's smile brighten up a little more.

Buzz removed his hand and got down to business. "You ready for our mission for Karn?"

"Yeah I am. Although I'm still not sure what it is Dr. Furbanna wants to show us. You sure you haven't the slightest clue, Buzz?"

Buzz shook his head. "Nope. It's a surprise that my girlfr-er...Dr. Furbanna wants to show us." He bit his lip in embarrassment and tried to remain serious even when the rest of his team grinned in knowing.

Unfortunately for Buzz, Ty caught onto it. "Your girlfriend?"

Buzz snapped, "She's not my girlfriend!"

Ty blinked at Buzz's flustered state before a sly grin snuck his way up his face. "Oooh, so you've found someone special after all, eh, Lightyear?"

"Hey, I've had plenty successful dates before!"

"Sure ya have. I'm kind of surprised, given how hard you work. Remember the first day we met at the Academy and we went to explore Capital Planet?"  
Ty held back a smirk at seeing Buzz blush at that awkward memory.

"That was a looooong time ago, Ranger. I don't remember anything about it."

Ty smiled and rolled his eyes. "Of course you don't." He was about to dig into his food when Mira asked, "What happened on that day?"

In desperation, Buzz looked to Ty to be the one to explain things, but much to his dismay, he shook his head. "Sorry, you're on your own. Besides, _I've_ gotta eat before we head out. You tell the story."

Buzz looked like he bit into a lemon. Craters.

* * *

"And there you have it, Rookies."

"Wow... even then you were a charmer with the ladies."

Feeling the corners of his mouth tugging, Ty held a hand to cover his mouth. The embarrassed blush filling his cheeks from Mira's comment was threatening to send the man out in a laughing fit. He didn't want to make Buzz feel any more bad than he already was, but that was a memory that, upon looking back, was actually funny and one of the better times in his years at the Academy.

The team, having finished their lunch, took off to their Star Cruiser. They passed time in their walk with stories from the old days when Buzz and Ty were Rookies themselves.

"SO!" Buzz cheerfully and too rapidly changed the subject. "About our mission on Karn, I should let you know ahead of time that my...er, Dr. Furbanna isn't...exactly the most social of people."

Ty frowned. "What do you mean?"

"She can be approachable, but because she's so invested in her work, she might come off as aloof."

"Not to mention protective of the local flora and fauna of Karn. So much so that it matches Buzz's passion for Star Command."

"XR, if this is about mentioning her as my girlfriend-"

As if taking offense to his captain's warning, he slapped his purple hands onto his metalwork and feigned innocence. "Oh, nononoooo, this is just me observing the similarities between you and Dr. Furbanna. It has NOTHING to do with the fact that you two are practically a couple."

"Could we move on from that? We've got work to do!"

XR shrugged. "Fine, sure, skipper." He wheeled on ahead of the team.

"So just be prepared for that, Ty. If she comes off as sour, that's just a way she greets people. She's got a good heart, though. She really cares about her work and about helping others. I'm surprised she doesn't have a partner to assist her or cheer her up when things get too demanding for her."

Unbeknownst to Buzz, his words struck a nerve on Ty. It was an annoying and eerie reminder about his own lonely situation that Nebula brought up, not to mention it ruined his good mood from before when he and his old friend were reminiscing on happier and carefree days. Before their relationship temporarily went spiraling downwards and nearly dissipating into thin air. Before they reconciled and set upon the road to rebuilding it. This Ozma character and her relationship to her fellow humans didn't exactly help the Ranger to feel anymore at ease with their mission to the deathtrap that was Karn. Buzz's description of his girlfriend hit home to Ty's own predicament without even realizing the damage he was unintentionally causing.

Buzz might have been trying to be a better friend, but he still had a long way to go.

"You alright, buddy? You're looking cross there."

Ty snapped out of his thoughts and realized Buzz was right. It was only now he realized his fists were oh-so-tight and he was staring daggers. "Oh..." The frustration previously established sizzled out. He unclenched his fists and took a deep breath to regain his cool. "I'm alright, Buzz. I'm just... a little tense about Karn is all. It's not exactly one of my favorite planets to go to, y'know?"

Fortunately for him, Buzz bought the story. "I understand. I've been there a few times and I still can't get behind the idea of what Ozma sees in those animals and in that planet. Maybe she'll show us some new form of technology that she's using for her research."

"Gee, what do you think it could be, sir?"

"Don't know, Booster, but we'll find out as soon as we get there. Let's go, Rangers!"

By the time they reached their ship, they were ready to discover whatever was waiting for them on the harsh greens of Karn.

And so was Ty.

Perhaps Dr. Furbanna and I will get along fine, he thought. And hoped that she could keep her boyfriend busy.

The thought raised his mood a little.

* * *

 **A/N:** The incident that Buzz and Ty bring up when they first met can be looked at in my origins fic, "Glory Days". Now it's onto Karn itself. What will happen with Buzz and team, Ty and Ozma? Hang tight to find out.

Leave a comment below describing what you liked, hated, thought was great, thought needs work, etc., and I'll see you on the flip side! Enjoy and have happy days!


	3. Chapter 3

The lush and cool green foliage slowly came into view as the ship descended further and further into Karn's stratosphere. The bright blue sky was dotted with white clouds, and it was seeming to shine brightly in the sun's warm rays against the more calmer hues of the jungle ranges. Various relatives of trees stood amid over the earth, hiding the deepest and darkest secrets that Karn held away from all prying eyes.

Everyone in the Star Cruiser gazed at the terrible beauty that Karn offered. Buzz and Mira had the best views, both of them sitting comfortably in their pilot and co-pilot seats respectively. Booster, XR and Ty all sat further back in their own seats. Well, Booster and Ty had their own seats. XR was up on his treads in between the two organics as they sat down in the newly-refurbished seats. When the LGMs heard that Team Lightyear was going to have Ty come along, they were quick as lighting to add on a second seat for the fifth Ranger, a fact that Ty was all too glad to accept. He didn't want to be standing up during the flight.

And so far, everything looked relatively peaceful and quiet, although as some experienced hands would say otherwise.

It could not have been more evident for Team Lightyear. "Well, here we are again. Right back into the deathtrap that is Karn. This is, what? The fourth time we've been here?"

"No XR, this is actually the third time we've been here now. The first time was when we first met Dr. Furbanna. The second time..." Mira seethed in discomfort as she thought back to the last mission she was given that took place on Karn.

Ty raised a brow as he turned in his seat to look at Mira. "I'm gonna assume that the second time you've been here, something happened?"

Mira, in her co-pilot's seat, shrugged with a free hand. "Yeah, pretty much. I was assigned to escort Madame President on her vacation when Zurg hit our ship. We had to crash land on Karn and trek our way out of the jungle." Madame President was the leader of the galaxy's government, the Galactic Alliance. It all worked out, although there were a few details that had gone array. Mainly to do with the President's traitorous aide, Smoltz. Not that anyone from Team Lightyear would bring that up, seeing as how that was a thing of the past.

"Really? Where was everybody else?" Ty was fairly interested to know in what happened on this mission, seeing as how this was his own first visit to the green planet.

Buzz piped up, "We split up to look for Mira and Madame President-Booster and XR took off in one direction, Dr. Furbanna and I went in another. The mission was a complete success."

"Although we had a few rocky points along the way that I'm more than happy to forget, thank you." XR crossed his arms as he frowned at the memory. Some things were best left in the dark.

"Heh, I bet. So I know you told me about what Dr. Furbanna's like, but is there anything else about her in particular I should be aware about? I don't exactly want to make a first bad impression, y'know."

"Just don't mention anything bad about animals. She loves them all, even the ones that want to eat you." Booster bit his lower lip as he thought back to the first time he picked up the light green and fanged-filled animal known as a skullborer. He was _not_ willing to keep that as a pet despite his love of animals.

"...I'll keep that in mind. Thanks."

* * *

They landed the ship a few feet aways from the Bio-Station. The silver and metal sphere sat innocently enough within the blackish green thicket, its flight of stairs empty. Nothing dangerous was thankfully present and ready to feast on everyone. The team made it to the building, in which Buzz would politely call out, "Dr. Furbanna! Team Lightyear's here."

"Please, Lightyear. You know you can call me Ozma." The door would open up to reveal a light-skinned woman about Mira's height, albeit a little taller than her. She was dressed in Star Command's bold colors of green and purple, making her auburn cut stand out. Her dark blue eyes took in all of the present members of team as she leaned her hands onto her hourglass hips. Although her smile was aloof and small, it was also real, much to Team Lightyear's surprise. She normally greeted them gruffly and with a disapproving scowl. "I'm glad you arrived here in one piece. But who's your friend?" She curtly motioned to Ty with her head, the latter who was initially looking at all of Karn's flora and keeping an eye out for vicious fauna before returning his attention back to the naturalist.

Buzz introduced, "Dr. Ozma Furbanna, I'd like you to meet Ty Parsec. He's an old friend of mine. Ty, this is Dr. Furbanna, the top naturalist on Karn."

Ty cleared his throat and greeted back politely, "It's an honor to meet you, ma'am. I've heard a bit about you from Buzz. Sounds like you have quite the adventures here on Karn." He could already tell that although this Ozma was civil, she wasn't too particularly intimate. But he'd have to wait and see before he could make any further judgments on her character.

Ozma relaxed her smile a little. This Ty person was certainly making a well-mannered impression on her, but it was still too early to tell what kind of person he was underneath that Ranger protocol. "Well, I hope that Lightyear told you good things. I wouldn't want to find out if he said anything bad about me." She threw a pointed smirk at Buzz, the man throwing up his hands to defend himself.

"Heh, he has, ma'am. Don't worry about that." Ty's own small smile breached his features.

The rest of the team, while glad that Ozma was being civil, were still reeling from the shock. She wasn't being the slightest bit blunt or abrupt with them as she usually could be. She was actually being somewhat inviting. Wanting to find out what's going on, Mira would be the one to bring the topic of the mission back into focus. "So what is it you wanted to show us?"

"You'll see." Ozma waved a hand. "Let me get my suit on first. Then follow me and find out."

She made them wait outside while she would go back inside her home base to suit up for the rough and tough jungle terrain.

 _"Wow...so far, so good,"_ Ty thought. His interactions with the naturalist were going over surprisingly well.

* * *

Booster would ask, "What's the big surprise?"

As she pushed and hacked her way through the thickness of the jungle, Ozma only repeated, "You'll see. But I will say this: I've got a new friend who makes my job here on Karn a little easier for me."

Buzz couldn't believe his ears. "A friend? What kind of friend is that?"

Ozma rolled her eyes at Buzz's apparent disbelief, all the while grinning conspiratorially at him. "Take it easy, Lightbrain. You'll meet them soon enough."

Ty exchanged a confused glance with Mira, who merely shrugged. This must have happened often when Buzz and Ozma were together. Ty wasn't about to stop them; he was enjoying the sight of seeing his friend sweat it out with someone he liked. As in liked liked. Ty got to know Ozma and her work a bit further; he learned from her that there was apparently a two-hour break for the inhabitants here to digest their food, thus giving the Rangers and researcher a chance to explore.

Meanwhile, the rest of Team Lightyear was still trying to figure out in their heads how Ozma mysteriously seemed to be a little more laid-back than she usually was.

Ozma took them to a little section not too far from her Bio-Station. It was a grassy clearing, leading away into a field of rocks. It was reasonably dark in this part of the woods, but a small ray of sunshine peeked through the trees, enabling a patch of serenity within this larger portion of the Karn landscape. There was a slight breeze around this patch of space, warm and soothing as a spring day. She held out a hand, signaling them to stop. "Alright, we're here. Now, watch this." Reaching into one of the compartments the suit held, she pulled out a small and silver whistle. She brought the whistle to her lips and blew.

But no shriek or song was shrieked or sung.

This left the crew of Rangers confused.

Confused and strangely headache-inducing in Ty's case. Right out of the blue, a strange sonar ping echoed into his ears and drilled into his skull. He squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to block out the mysterious noise. But just as quickly as it invaded his brain, it left quickly as well, the headache disappearing. He shook his head subtly, trying not to have the others look over him in concern. Besides, they were busy pondering over the mysterious whistle Ozma blew on.

What was that supposed to do?

Nothing happened for a few moments. The only one who seemed certain that something would happen was Ozma. She was learning forward with an ear out. She smiled when she heard the noise and turned to the others. "She's on her way now. We'll meet her in about seven seconds."

Buzz blinked. So it WASN'T that kind of a friend. It was a _female_ friend. Thank the cosmos. "Your friend's coming here? Who is she?"

"Just be patient. She'll tell you herself." And just as she finished her sentence, the team froze. A series of padded prints could be heard coming towards them. The team understandably stood alert and wary, almost ready to strike should this 'friend' of Dr. Furbanna's be lethal. But it wasn't.

For running swiftly and coming into view was a silhouette of a canine. A big canine that suddenly leapt into the air before bouncing off the rocks. It silently bounced off the rocks like a ping pong ball. The team watched with fascination.

As the canine got closer, its features began to be clear for all to see. The canine was a little taller than XR, standing about three feet. Its sleek coat was a navy blue, with the blue encompassing over most of the main body and long cheetah-like tail. The coat was also white in some areas, mainly the face, snout, parts of its broad chest, socks on its back legs, and tail tip. Its pointed ears and yellow sclera were big and alert. A deep purple collar was worn around its neck, the same hue of purple of Ozma's own outfit. The dog looked like a combination of a sturdy German Shepherd and a wily jackal.

The dog came to a complete stop, landing right in front of the team with grace. It panted vigorously as though it just ran a ten-mile marathon, but it was certainly smiling. The animal looked at everyone curiously, its black eyes shining before it went over to greet Dr. Furbanna. The dog nuzzled Ozma's arm, as if to say hello.

The team's tension evaporated when Ozma's passion for animals shined through in a loving smile. "It's alright. She's one of the more friendly residents here; she's my new partner and dog."

Buzz crossed his arms as he was trying to contain his awkward discomfort over the implication of Ozma's friend. So it was a dog and not another human working with his girlfri-her.

It was a good thing Ozma was so busy concentrating on the dog. Ty himself was cringing and forcing himself not to growl in frustration about the word 'partner', no doubt remembering Nebula's words. Craters, this day was going back and forth between being good and bad. It didn't seem like it could make up its mind.

Once more, no Ranger noticed Ty in distress. Booster grinned a wide grin, eager to meet this dog. "Wooooow! I've never seen a dog like her before. Can I pet her?"

"You can. You can even give her commands if you'd like. She's very well trained." She turned to her dog and ordered, "Go see Booster." She pointed at Booster and the dog, still panting, went over to see the big guy.

The Rangers, minus Ty, all watched with fascination as she came up to greet Booster like a pro. "Coollll. Okay, um...sit, girl."

The dog sat on her haunches.

"Shake." Booster held out a hand for the dog to put her paw in. They shook appendages.

"Great! Now speak."

"What's up?"

Everyone except Ozma stiffened like statues. Ozma bore a rare and mischievous grin at seeing everyone react so strongly to what they just heard.

"Did that dog just _say_ 'what's up?"

The dog turned to a bewildered Ty, still smiling and panting. "I sure did!"

"Whoa!" How was she talking?!

The dog was completely standing up on all fours again and wagging her tail, excited to greet Ty. Her tomboyish spirit and playful enthusiasm was evident in her "tone" as she introduced herself. "The name's Pix. And I'm so psyched to meet ya!" In excitement, Pix leapt right up to the Ranger and placed her front paws on Ty's chest, sending him to take a few steps backwards. He was still reacting with shock as he couldn't move his arms, for fear of doing something foolish by mistake. "And who are ya? What's your name?"

"..." Ty threw a glance to Ozma that alerted, 'what am I supposed to do?'

"Just talk to her. She won't bite. Pix, down."

Pix obeyed Ozma's commands and fell back down onto all fours as she continued to look up at Ty in anticipation for making a new friend. Not just with him, but hopefully the rest of the other creatures!

Ty cleared his throat to overcome this embarrassing event. He wasn't trying to be scared, so sue him. He just never saw a dog as enthusiastic or talkative, as this one. She was very friendly, he'd give her that. "Uhh...name's Ty. Ty Parsec." Ty had never thought there'd be a day when he'd be talking to a _dog_ out of all animals. Then again, he did have one when he was a kid. But that was a long time ago, and he wasn't exactly sure on what to think of canines after what he went through recently.

"I'm glad to know ya, Ty! I just met you and I like you already."

XR, curious about how Pix was able to communicate without using her mouth, wheeled over in between Ty and her. "Pardon me for cuttin' in, but HOW are you talkin'?" He crossed his metallic arms as he squinted in curiosity. Dogs don't normally have the ability to speak verbally...or mentally for that matter. So how was it that THIS particular canine managed to do so?

Ozma would provide the answer to this mystery. "I can explain that one. Pix is from the planet Verdentia."

"Verdentia? Hey, isn't that the peaceful planet we saved from that comet, Buzz?"

In response, Buzz nodded to Booster's question. "That's right, Ranger. I knew it was another rock, but I didn't know about these kinds of dogs livin' on there."

"Of course you wouldn't."

The corners of Buzz's mouth curved downwards into a scowl in comparison to Ozma's triumphant smile. Ozma elaborated further on Pix's origins. "You see, she's able to talk through her collar. There are a couple of dog breeders that train dogs like Pix to do anything-search and rescue, herd, race, whatever suits your need. And they not only train these animals to follow commands, they can also converse with them through handmade special collars that translate the dog's thoughts into speech. That's why I decided to hire her; I needed a partner who could navigate her way around the jungle looking after the animals without me having to worry about her safety. She can take care of herself." It was also any wonder why she was more lax now than before she had Pix-she found someone who shared a similar sense of humor and dedication to the job, making it easier for her to be around other humans.

Mira looked over the mysterious dog, who was having a grand time annoying XR by sniffing around him. "But what kind of dog is she? I've never seen a dog breed like hers before."

Pix's ears perked up and she hopped over to Mira, surprising the latter. "I'm a dustchaser, of course!"

"A dust what?"

"What are you, deaf? I'm a dustchaser! And proud of it too!" Pix ignored XR's glare and stood up straight and tall with pride in her heritage.

Booster grinned. "A dustchaser? Wooooow...that sounds really cool! Um, why are you called that?"

"Because dustchasers are recorded in history to be the fastest land mammals in the entire galaxy. They're able to run up to six hundred miles per hour." Ozma shrugged at everyone's gobsmacked gapes sent her way. "It's a true fact."

Ty blinked at this newfound detail. Dogs like Pix could run _that_ fast? He glanced down at Pix once more, amazed at how happy-go-lucky and bold she was making herself to be. She was also making herself to be fairly relaxed, like she wasn't afraid of anything the jungle could throw at her. Whether it was either through her training or another aspect, Ty didn't know, but he had to admit, it was certainly admirable. But he was wanting to know one thing. "Dr. Furbanna?"

"Yes?"

"I was wondering, how does Pix do her job here with the animals and all?"

Mulling over the question, Ozma turned to her assistant. "Pix, is it still safe to be out during this time?"

She was pleased when Pix nodded vigorously. "Yes, ma'am. The animals are still eating and digestin' their food." Compared to her explosive interactions to the Rangers, her interaction with Ozma was more subdued and down to business.

"Good. Well, then, if you'd all follow us, we'll show you what she can do." Ozma activated her helmet, and it enclosed over her face like a mask. She waited for her partner to go ahead of her and when Pix trotted forward into the underbrush, the woman followed not too far behind. The rest of the Rangers, however, stood for a brief moment, unsure if where they were taking them was safe. But if Ozma was the one leading them to some place free of any vicious animal and/or plant activity, they'd take the chance. One by one, the Rangers trailed after the duo.

The one acting as the tail end of the group was Ty, who was still trying to reel in the newfound information of this dog.

But he was not the only one.

Lurking away within the jungle, far behind the Rangers, the researcher and dog, were three robotic stooges. Protected by a camouflaged vehicle and the jungle's shady sense of blackness, they silently bore witness to the whole event. Two of them were coherent in speech; the last one was not, resorting to speaking in plain gibberish instead.

"Did you hear that? This will make a WONDERFUL star for sure. If what the human scientist said was true, then we're going to make history with our project!"

"Yes. And we'll be able to fully redeem ourselves in the eyes of our employers, both old and new."

"Anwe'llbealetotakedaysoffandgerevengontheseinferiorbeings."

"Quite right, Epoch. Let's get to work!"

* * *

 **A/N** : I'll go more into detail over on my blog about this chapter. Enjoy for now!


	4. Chapter 4

The trek took the Rangers towards another section of the jungle. It was all so seamless, so peaceful. Of course that didn't stop them from being on high alert; just because it was safe to travel through for now didn't mean that there would be no surprises waiting to spring on them like jackrabbits.

Ty might not have accompanied his comrades on the Karn missions in the past, but he was still experienced enough to know better than to let his own guard down. That and he was older than the Rookies. He _needed_ to know better.

Ozma deactivated her helmet as she said, "Here we are."

Tearing the man from his apprehension of the terrain's elusive duality, Ty, mimicking his friends' actions, halted behind Ozma and Pix.

There, at the edge of the foliage and before their feet, or paws and treads in the cases of Pix and XR, was a vast and vibrant grassland, composed of mainly trees of various families, bushes and brushes, and...well, grass. No wild beast was present. It was only the group of seven strangers who were accompanied by a warm breeze flowing over the landscape and rustling through the leaves like soothing ocean waves. Fresh and colorful flowers and plants, assuming they were not carnivorous, bent in the wind as they stay connected to dirt and rock. Streams of sunlight peeked through the trees as they touched land, the earth intensifying and merging heat and air into humid updrafts. It was oddly pleasant enough to count as a summer day.

Booster acted as the voice of everyone's confusion. "Why are we here?"

Ozma harshly shushed him with a 'shh!'. "You're about to witness one of nature's wonders. Pix?"

Pix, who had been listening and scanning the horizons in stillness, redirected her focus to the researcher.

"Do you sense anything out there?"

Pix closed her eyes, as her large bat-like ears honed in on her surroundings. Her ears flickered. Flickered. She listened. Listened. Her nose twitched. She smelled. Smelled. A green voice breathed into her ears. After a few moments of eerie quiet, Pix looked to Ozma again.

She smiled, nodding in confirmation.

Ozma awarded Pix with a smile back. She quietly told the Rangers, "And now, we watch. We _stay_ here. Pix, go."

Without another word, Pix carefully crouched and moved forward, her limbs gracefully sliding through the grass. She blended into the tall blades and disappeared from view.

Ty watched. Where was she going? He looked at the landscape, trying to eyeball whatever it was the dog picked up. But even with his heightened eyesight, he couldn't see anything. He and the team stood still, curious as to what was going to happen next.

* * *

Pix, using all of her primal skills, slithered and crawled through the jungle's roots like an earthworm. She was sure they were still there. Still there.

It was so peaceful, but as any natural hunter would know, stillness was also an enemy just as it could be a best friend. She needed to trust in her instincts and in nature's work. That was why she took her time in-

...Wait.

There they were.

She leapt and flew into the sky.

* * *

XR felt the ground vibrate underneath his treads. "Uh... does anybody else here feel that or is it just me?"

"No, it's not just you. Pix has found them."

"'Them'?"

Ozma pointed, and everyone followed her line of vision. What they saw in the distance was nothing short of astonishing.

It was Pix, galloping near a parade of barleyhorns as they ran away from her. The light pink armored mammals ran with their large ears flapping behind them. Their dangerously long horns on their short snouts presented no threat to the canine; she was keeping close and yet far from them at a reasonable distance. Not that they would try to attack her; their large calf eyes focused ahead and away from the smaller but faster invader. They were also frightened by her riotous barks.

Like a common sheepdog, she was barking out commands in her native tongue. She was thunder, noisy but determined to take them out of their old place and bring them to a new one, where Ozma could check in with them. The pace she was dashing at was amazing. The entire team was gawking, and she was not even running at six hundred miles per hour! They eyed the animals as they drummed thoroughly over the land, with Pix shepherding the elephant lookalike creatures to another location, farther away from their old spot. She was able to weave in and out of the trees and bush, leaving nothing but dust behind her.

Ozma, sensing the team's unstated intrigue, piped up, "Well, go ahead, ask questions about Pix. She's not going to be done with her job for at least five more minutes."

Mira was the first to break out of her spellbound gape. "R-right. Soooo what _is_ she doing?"

"She's trying to move those herd of barleyhorns to a new location. Because the new season is around the corner, they need to move into a new spot where there's fresh water and grass."

Booster scratched his head. "But wouldn't they already know if it was time to migrate? I mean without Pix to tell them where to go?"

"Normally, yes. And normally, I don't intervene with the animals' migratory patterns. But there's been a spike in poaching again; I want to keep these animals safe _**however**_ I can, and if that means having Pix take them to a safer territory, then fine! I'll do it." No one could particularly blame the furious growl lodging in Ozma's threat. Her passionate love for animals was strong but deadly.

The one to tame the beastly mindset was Ty. "Uh... right. So she acts as a guard dog and a herding dog then. What does she do if someone crash-landed here by accident?"

It seemed to work in calming Ozma's nerves down. She inhaled fresh air deeply before adopting a neutral expression. "It would depend. Sometimes she'd accompany them and bring them to the Bio-Station. But if they're too far away to make it in time, she'll stay with them and find shelter until I can get over to them or until they can find their own way." The breeze picked up a little chill, but it was still mildly warm enough to relive the party of tension.

Ty ignored the wind brushing his neck. "How would you know where she'd be located?"

"The tag on her collar is electronic. I find her coordinates, I find her. It's the same way I keep track of the other animals when they migrate. But I'm leaving part of this up to Pix. She possesses a greater amount of knowledge about the jungle than I do, but that's because she was raised in the Verdentian jungle with her pack. It's another reason why I chose her."

"Huh. Interesting. I guess that could...wait a minute, I thought you said dustchasers have owners who train them to follow any commands you want them to heed." Ty's brow was scrunched up in confusion at the contradiction.

The confusion coaxed Ozma to smirk a bit. "You catch on quick. I'm impressed." Ignoring Ty's unimpressed brow, she elaborated, "But you're right, Ty. They do have owners who train and care for them. But dustchasers are also free-range creatures; they're domesticated enough to be by your side and follow your commands, but they're also independent enough to look after themselves and live in the wild or anywhere they want to reside. Most of the time, they like living in places where it's hot or moderate, like the jungle or the beach."

"Or even here."

"Exactly."

Buzz asked, "So then why is it until now, we've never heard of these types of dogs?"

A shrug was followed by a, "You didn't ask. But there is a reason why they haven't been brought to the public eye. The Verdentians don't want to show them off to the Galactic Alliance until they're all fully trained. You also need a specific license to own one of these dogs since they're so multitalented. I managed to obtain Pix because of my science degree."

"As riveting as all of this sounds, I've got one quick question to ask about those animals she's been jogging with."

"Which is...?"

XR pointed to the animals. "Are they aware they're about to go over a cliff?!"

The Rangers froze. But Ozma remained calm. "Just watch. Pix will handle this."

* * *

The parade panicked. Panicked. The smaller fanged creature was hot on their tails and seeming to close in on them.

Closing in on one side, while on the other side, the edge of the world was near.

The herd panicked again as they ran, all instincts overriding their experiences.

But a savior would appear in the least unlikely place.

Putting on a burst of speed, Pix leaped out right into the path of the frightened group, cutting them off before they could fall off.

They were on the very edge. She stood her ground as she stared up into the leader's eyes in defiance and courage while she growled softly over the breeze.

The matriarch of the herd dared to stare, her own courage rising in spite of the canine's large white fangs.

Pix spread her limbs out, ready to fight if she must.

Finally...

* * *

"Sweet Mother of Venus! She stared them down. Now they're turning around and heading the other way!" Buzz passed a pair of binoculars that he brought out to the others for a better view. With the exception of Ty; he saw easily what was happening.

Booster remarked, "Wooooooow. That's amazing! She didn't attack them!"

"Of course she didn't. She'll only attack if she needs to defend or if she feels threatened. Now they'll know that she means no harm. They'll listen to her orders."

"So what'll she do now, Dr. Furbanna?"

"Finish the job."

* * *

Now a gentle but stern gale, Pix escorted the herd away from the cliffs and into another portion of the ghastly jungle.

One by one, the members of the parade evaporated into green nothingness, with Pix acting as the caretaker. When the last member went into the brush, Pix followed after them.

And the breeze leveled off.

* * *

Ty grinned a little after the show was over. "Heh, wow. She _is_ very well trained; I can see why you chose her."

"Isn't she great? She's the best partner I've ever had. But now that the job's done, we need to head back to the Bio-Station. The two hour safety window is nearly up and it'll be time for some of the other animals to start looking for food again." She pulled out her whistle to summon Pix again.

And once more, the annoying ring buzzed Ty's ears again, which also did nothing to ease the sore spot Ozma unintentionally brought up about the 'p' word.

But Pix was able to soothe away Ty's annoying headache with her arrival. Paws flying up and down to meet earth and air, she ran back to the team of Rangers and her employer, a big old smile on her snout. She skidded down to a screeching halt, her tail whipping back and forth in excitement.

She panted in exertion as she said, "All done, ma'am. They're off and enjoying the new watering hole I found for them! They thanked me for it too."

The love Ozma had for her dog shined through as she gently patted Pix on her back. "Good girl. You'll get a nice treat when we get back to the base. How about it?"

Pix nodded happily before barking out her agreement. "Sounds awesome to me! Let's head back." She bounded the opposite way, nearly bowling over the team in the process. The only one who was amused by the whole event was Ozma. The rest of the team was recovering from a case of shock after nearly being blown away by the burst of air Pix left in her wake.

* * *

After managing to catch up to her, and after she managed to ignore their grousing, the team was back together. Pix was in the forefront, with Ozma and Ty behind her, and the rest of the team following not too far behind. Pix was feeling particularly good about a job well done, and at random times, she'd jog around the Rangers to ask them questions about themselves-their homes, their jobs, their strengths, anything she could think of to know these two-leggeds better.

Ty watched her and although she was a little too pushy with some of her questions, he did kind of enjoy having somebody ask him questions he wasn't normally asked. Even if that person happened to be a super fast _dog_. He observed to Ozma, "She's really curious about everyone, isn't she?"

Ozma nodded as she smirked back at the dustchaser currently asking Mira about her Tangean powers. "Yes, she is. But I welcome that about her. She's open to learning new things and isn't afraid to push herself or take risks."

"Yeah, I can see that too. She was risking a lot going up against that herd back there. She's smaller than them, but she stood her ground and got them out of danger in time."

"All in a day's work for her. I don't want her to get hurt, but she's aware of the dangers on Karn, and does her best to _stay out_ of it." Ozma threw the dog a pointed glance as she loudly emphasized her sentence. But Pix just grinned mischievously, curling her tail as she snickered.

"What can I say? I LOVE going into places where adventure and danger exist!" She leapt ahead again, brimming with childlike excitement.

"You mean you're not afraid of the animals here?"

Pix tilted her head at the bewildered Booster and regarded him like he was sporting two heads. "Why would I be? I'm an animal too, ain't I? I know how the jungle works. 'Sides, if you've lived in the jungle for as long as I have, you learn how to get along with most of them. And the ones you don't, well..." She shrugged her shoulders and remarked nonchalantly, "ya either fight 'em or avoid 'em. It's a law of the jungle that I gotta obey as a resident and protector."

"Why?"

"Duh, instinct! And like I said, I know how the jungle works. You gotta live by those rules sometimes if you wanna survive. Other times, I'm free to do anything I want! Including racing." Her teeth flashed in a cocky manner.

Ty's ears perked up at the word. "'Racing? You're a _racing_ dog too?" There didn't seem to be anything this dog wasn't capable of, was there?

"Nah, I'm not an active racing dog. I just love running and challengin' other runners for fun! And I'm the BEST at it. I can beat _any_ runner, even my own pack!"

No one could completely argue against that. After seeing her run at HALF the supposed super speed she possessed, it was nearly a given fact that she could beat competitors. But Ty would go on to say, "I'll buy that. Y'know Pix, I like running myself."

Ozma and Pix would both ask Ty, "You do?"

"Yeah. I was the best runner in my class when I was at the Academy. I can still run fast, but I don't think I could run at the speed you can." He chuckled a little as an afterthought of his admission. "My old dog was a fast runner like me. The fastest I've known...er, up til now anyways." Ty was slowly winding down and easing himself to talk to Pix, even if he still had some mixed opinions about how he felt towards canines. It was just as well; she didn't bear any ill will towards him, and she was genuinely personable. So why not give her the benefit of the doubt?

A dog? Did he say dog? Pix had to know! "You had a fast dog? What was the dog's name?" Pix trailed back a little to keep up with Ty.

"Yeah. I had a dog when I was a kid..."

Ozma watched Ty and Pix interact with each other, her thoughts over this fast forming bond. It was not uncommon for Pix to be friendly towards outsiders, but the way she was communicating with Ty was extraordinary and quite nothing like what the naturalist had seen before. She was very familiar with the bonds between man and beast, yes, but there was something...different about this bond. She couldn't explain it, but there was something about Ty that felt off yet surprisingly assuring that somehow Pix, and she, could somehow pick up on. It was likely that Ty wasn't like any of the Rangers she met-he was more humble and open-minded in comparison to Lightyear, and older and somewhat wiser than the rest of Lightyear's comrades.

Or perhaps it was merely because of the fact that man and dog shared a few commonalities in general. Who knows? Regardless, she'd have to take notes on this peculiar event when they got back to the Bio-Sphere.

They arrived back at the base. Just then...

Pix stopped dead in her tracks in the middle of a conversation with Ty. Her attention no longer pointed at him, she was now looking right into the dark underbrush near the infrastructure, eyes wide and concentrating.

Ozma was the second one after Ty to quickly take notice of the dog's frozen state. "Pix? Why did you stop?"

But the dog didn't hear her. Instead, she sniffed the air for scents. Alarm slapped itself onto her features. She took to growling fiercely.

The Rangers, now armed with wrist lasers, didn't need the naturalist to know what _that_ meant.

Something was in there.

Ozma yelled, "Alright, poachers, come on out!"

But it was not a poacher of the normal kind.

A long snakelike gun uncoiled itself from its hiding place, rose swiftly and high into the air, and fired an energy shot at the group!

Faster than lightning, Pix pushed Ty and Mira out of the way while Buzz, Booster, XR and Ozma hurled themselves out of harm's way in time. Everyone quickly got to their feet and ducked for cover behind some of the other flora by the base before aiming to take fire at the strange weapon. Ty, Mira and XR were behind one tree a few feet away while Buzz, Booster, Ozma and Pix took cover behind a large bush. The strange weapon fired back.

It turned into a gunfight. One minute. Two minute. Three. Four passed by.

Booster, in between shots, yelled, "Jumpin' Jupiter, Buzz, what is that thing?!"

"I don't know, Booster, but whatever it is, we've gotta take it out hard and fast."

And for once, Ozma didn't object to Lightyear's gung-ho antics.

Ty, acting as a makeshift leader of the small group, traded off with Mira and XR in the shooting range. Ty would fire first before Mira and XR would cover his him. And it was then that both rookies made an observation about the particular weapon.

Mira spotted it first. "XR, that gun. Doesn't that weapon design look familiar? It looks like the kind of weapon that the-"

"Hey, hold on a minute. It's stopped!" Indeed it did stop. What happened?

The teams peeked out from their respective hiding places. Buzz snarled when he saw who were the shooters. "You!"

* * *

 **A/N:** I will talk more about this chapter on my blog, but I wanted to give a quick note: barleyhorns are just something I made up and not in the actual show. Enjoy this chapter and have happy days!


	5. Chapter 5

Three creatures of diminutive size emerged out of their green hiding place, now floating high with smug pride above the trees and the group down below. Their large craniums held extensive intelligence, but their small bodies held little compassion for all life. The suits all three of the aliens wore seemed advanced, with long and mechanical claw-like appendages sprouting from their round shoulders.

They possessed similar features, such as large eyebrows, biomechnical implants attached to their blue filaments on their heads, yellow scleras and spectrum of colorful exoskins. But two of the aliens appeared youthful and spry, while the third was the eldest as evidenced by blue bags underneath his teal eyes, his craggy aqua skin and lilac-colored body. Next to him was a young but sleepy-eyed comrade who also had an eccentric air about him. His cornflower skin starkly contrasted with his magenta and pink suit. But the final alien of the trio, the most lively and keen-eyed one of the bunch, possessed a mint-colored body that blended well with his cyan skin and lime green eyes.

He flew forwards a bit in front of his companions and near the protective snake-like weapon, which went into hibernation until further usage. In a unlikely boyish voice, he chided, "You know, you lesser beings need to learn to control your tempers. It'll only cause more harm to ourselves and you."

"WOULD YOU STOP CALLING US THAT?! WE'RE. ** _NOT_. LESSER.** **BEINGS** **!** _"_ Mira's laser blasts matched her hot fury at the degrading term.

The unknown aliens, fearing for their safety from her anger and accurate aiming, dived out of the way and back into their hiding spot. Like a regular machine gun, Mira would not cease fire and continued to shoot. The others swiftly avoided her wrath by ducking down.

Buzz acted fast. "Mira, stop! **Stop!** " Buzz grabbed her arm and held it tight as Mira fought back against his grip, ceasing fire in the process.

"Buzz, you know what those jerks did to us! I want to get **even** with them for what they did!"

" **Of course I know what they did!** But trying to atomize them won't solve our problems! Don't forget what we're doin' here and where we are!" Buzz and Mira glared at one another, intensely focusing on each other.

Everyone slowly stood up now, secretly glad that Mira was not shooting like a homicidal lunatic anymore. Pix, the first one to stand up, kept her eye on the creeps but did snap at the two Rangers, "Hey, I don't wanna interrupt anythin', but you two-leggeds know these flyin' metal scraps?!"

Ozma demanded, "Yes, Lightyear. Please inform us. What do you know about them?" She was NOT taking too kindly to these strange intruders.

Ty himself had no knowledge of these aliens, but he was in confused agreement with Ozma and Pix. "Who are they? I've never met them before."

It was through Ty's intervention that Buzz and Mira started to pull back on their reptilian bites. Buzz explained, "They're called the Chlorm. They believe everyone is inferior to them because they are superior to everyone with their intellect. Too bad they use that intellect by capturing and experimenting on anyone they can find like _animals_."

Ozma frowned at Buzz's poisonous contempt. She never heard Buzz hold so much venomous repulsion for any sentient being before...well, outside of the Evil Emperor Zurg, the most dangerous criminal in the entire galaxy. Nonetheless, it made any past unfriendly interactions he had with animals here on Karn, and her, seem like a pleasant spot of tea by comparison. "You sound like you've had a bad experience with them before."

"We _all_ did. We ended up on tables ready to be dissected."

"Or forced to do manual labor and getting zappity-zapped if you disobeyed! And not getting paid; that was the worst part." XR pouted sourly as he crossed his at the memory.

Booster asked, "But what are they doing here, Buzz? You don't think they're here to try and capture us again, do you?"

"Of course not, Jo-Adian. We came for something else entirely."

The group, upon hearing the boyish Chlorm float above them once more, turned on their heels and braced themselves for whatever tricks the alien had up his silver sleeve. But he simply placed his arms on the sides of his tiny body as he regarded the group.  
"We came to talk to the one they call Ozma Furbanna."

Ozma never let down her guard as she icily hissed, "I'm her. What do you _want_? If it's me, forget it, pal."

"Oh we don't want _you_! According to our superiors, we are in need of a new kind of animal to show our people. We have started a television show on our Zarf Network, _When Lesser Beings Attack!_ All based on our interactions with Subjects Buzz, Mira, Booster and XR. Ratings are low and we need new stars to boost our ratings or else our show will be cancelled."

Team Lightyear all shared disgusted scowls. These tiny pinheads made a television show BASED on their interactions?! Each of them now bore looks resembling unforgiving hurricanes. It was as if they all held the same objective in mind: waste these monsters at all costs. If only that was a wish that could come true in this lifetime for the Rangers.

Although Ty himself have never met these creeps before, he couldn't help but feel a mixture of empathy towards Buzz and his team and revulsion towards their antagonists. Empathetic because he perfectly understood what it was like to be treated, not to mention tortured, like a helpless creature, and sickened that these guys would stoop so low to conduct experiments on other life forms. And all in the name of what? Science? That was hardly a commendable goal that Ty could get behind. He was going to ask Buzz more on the details later.

For now, his main focus was protecting his fellow Rangers, Ozma and Pix.

A brisk breeze whipped through Ozma's hair as she stared up and coldly at them. "So what's this got to do with me?"

The eldest one was losing his patience with this whole exchange and having enough, he blurted out, "We want to borrow your canine assistant for our show!" He struck out a claw to point at a wary Pix.

This threw everyone for a loop, as everyone either gaped or widened their eyes. Some of them turned to Pix to see what her reaction would be.

Hers, however, ranged from a slap in the face to frosty defiance. She growled, her sharp fangs bared as she clawed and stamped the ground like a barleyhorn ready to charge. She snorted as she demanded to know, "Oh yeah? Why me?"

"Why it's simple," the old Chlorm elaborated, "You're fast, you're agile and most importantly... you're spirited! You'd be the perfect candidate for our show. We have been using our Silver Fang device here," he pointed to the snake-like gun, "to test out your skills. You're indeed the agile specimen we have learned about."

"You forgot one other thing: I'm _stubborn_ too. And I ain't gonna be your monkey, ya empty-headed buckets of bolts!"

A tense hush fell over the Chlorm. The eldest one snarled, "What did you say?!"

Seeing she hit a weak spot, Pix took the opportunity to... _grin_? In an almost playful manner, she quipped, "Oh, sorry 'bout that. I meant to say, 'simple-minded lesser beings'!"

"Why, you-!" The eldest one turned to the boyish one and demanded, "Eon, we must capture her now! Before she sasses us anymore."

"Oh, oh, wait, wait, I got one more: you're all a bunch of dissemblin', eel-skinned, bird-brained, rusty, old cuckoo heads! I bet your show would do better if you all starred in it and sat in a bird's nest with your egg shells cracked!"

Ha, ha! Success.

All three Chlorm were busy clutching their claws and gritting their teeth at her unconventional insults. How... how DARE a mangy mutt like her speak to them like that?! That was such a low insult to their intelligence!

Pix smugly stuck her nose in the air while Ozma smiled with pride over her dog's handle on the situation. All the more reason why she was very glad to have a partner like Pix.

On the other hand, Team Lightyear had not expected to hear such sassiness from Pix. In the times that they talked back to the Chlorm, only a few of their insults seemed to have any effect on the Chlorm, with them reacting minimally. But here, _every_ insult worked the Chlorm up into shaking rage. Not to mention that she didn't seem afraid of them at all. They wouldn't be surprised if she kept on insulting them until the moozles came home. They didn't know whether to be appalled or impressed. But one thing was clear to everyone: Pix was gutsy. Uncouth, but gutsy.

Even Ty, who had never any contact with these creatures in the past, was marveling over Pix's ability to handle herself in a situation like this. But then again, dogs were full of surprises. He ought to know.

Having lost all amiability, Eon had to agree with his elder. "I concur, Era. Epoch!" The purple eccentric Chlorm listened intently as his name was called.

"Fire our blaster at will and target that beast NOW!"

Epoch brought out a small handheld set of controls that looked like it could control a small race car than a large snake blaster.

Pix shooed away her inner clown and crouched down, her defiance returning. She barked, "Bring it on, birdbrains!"

* * *

And then all hell broke loose.

The Chlorms' serpent gun hissed and unleashed a series of shots towards the group. Once again, everyone split off into their own small groupings: Ty fell into line with Mira and XR as they took cover behind their tree while Ozma, Buzz, Booster and Pix hid behind the bush again. The Chlorm, however, did not hide in their spot like last time. No, now that they were set ablaze with anger and indignation from Pix's insults, wanted her in their grasp - here and NOW. But neither party would go down without a good, hard and long fight.

Ty's team exchanged turns with Buzz's team over who would shoot. When one rank would fire, the other would lay in waiting and then act as the second wave of attacks against their enemies while the first team reloaded and recovered. Pix herself would bark and growl at the dreaded weapon. As tempted as she was to go after the gun herself, with that temptation gnawing on her instincts and growing stronger, her owner would need protection from these creeps if they tried to attack her and the others. So her duty was, above all else, to stay with Ozma.

By contrast, the Chlorm's weapon moved and behaved as its snake shape dictated: it weaved and waved its body back and forth to avoid potential hits to the 'face'. A few shots from the Rangers and Ozma did succeed in denting and damaging some parts of its long and sleek form, but the weapon was far from taken out and destroyed.

Instead, a few of the bushes and a tree were the ones in harm's way. Singed and on the verge of catching fire, gradually building in the way a fire starts when it was constructed: young and hungry for life.

Pix was the first to notice this disaster and quickly alerted Ozma with a few barks.

Seeing this fiery and potential threat to Karn's flora, Pix, and the Rangers, Ozma yelled over the noise, "Buzz, we have to find another way to destroy that blaster!"

Buzz yelled back, "How?! We move away from here?!"

"That wouldn't be such a bad idea! Look!"

Following Ozma's pointed arm, his eyes locked onto the flora. His eyes grew in horror as he realized the truth behind Ozma's warning. The more plants there were, the more the fire could eat and the more likely nobody would get out of danger.

"Ah, craters!" Thinking quickly, he asked Ozma, "Is there any chance the Bio-Sphere can protect us?"

"Yes and no. We'll be safe from their laser, but not from the smoke. And I don't know about you, but I don't think I'm up for being cooked alive while trapped inside the Bio-Sphere." She eyeballed Buzz with a sideways glance and one slick eyebrow raised.

And neither was Buzz. So he would think of another plan to deal with the Chlorms AND the fire from spinning out of control. But even as he was formulating a plan of sorts, a wrench would be thrown into the works.

A windy wrench at that.

The breeze that was felt earlier that day suddenly picked up in strength and speed. The wind seethed as it blew over the ocean of trees. And with it came the fire.

"Sweet Mother of Venus! Buzz, the wind!" Mira held down her hair in place as the wind flew through it. With great alarm, she and the rest of her fellow Rangers maneuvered out of the fire's path and out of their respective hiding places. Just in time too; the fire quickly began to devour and feed upon the leaves and blades of grass, building and growing into a large inferno.

* * *

 **A/N:** I confess I'm not entirely sure if the network owned by the Chlorms is called 'Zarf', seeing as the word itself is a name for a holder for a coffee cup without a handle, but that is what I heard when I watched that part and I'm sticking to it. It sounds spacey anyway LOL.

As to why the story title has changed, the answer is simple: I want the title to reflect the themes which will be present here and in other stories, all part of a grand series I'm working on. That and for some time, I felt discontent with the story title. It's kind of a jerky move I know, but hey, for a story that will be part of a series of stories that are of epic proportions, the title is that important enough to matter. Now I'm happy with it, and I hope y'all like it too. So enjoy and have happy days!


	6. Chapter 6

The Rangers, Ozma, and Pix all backpedaled into one group as they stood back to back to back, watching over themselves and each other while keeping away from the crinkling flora and the Chlorm.

Luckily for them, the fire also forced the Chlorm to fall back from the scene. If only for a few feet away.

The fire itself acted like another animal altogether, eating and destroying everything it could taste with its heat and claws. Nearby creatures, in tune with nature's rules, sensed the fire's unexpected arrival and fled as fast as they could. Animals of the air cawed and shot through the air to seek out sanctuary. Animals of the earth trampled and drummed against the earth's crust as they smelt the fire's sickly perfume thanks to the wind's deadly alliance with the fire. Wind and flame combined their forces and created a great but terrible harmony, rising the jungle's temperature.

But jungle fire or no, the Chlorm wouldn't be going anywhere without their prize. So they drew back their own firepower. The serpent-like gun, or Silver Fang as the Chlorms apparently named it, hovered back and away from the fire with the Chlorm floating away besides it.

XR was the first to spot the Chlorm's departure. "Buzz, the Chlorm are leavin'!"

Buzz spotted this event as well, but he was not to get his hopes up. They were probably trying to find another way to attack them. Big mistake.

"Team, take to the skies! Ty, grab Pix! Ozma, you're with me!"

She nodded in understanding and quickly deactivated her suit. It would leave her vulnerable for attack, yes, but the suit was designed to compact itself away rapidly. Once she was back in her normal wear, she went over to Buzz and let him grab onto her. She grabbed onto him for support as they ascended from the ground. "Pix, go with Ty!"

Pix didn't need to be told twice. Once Ty activated his jet pack, she leapt into his arms. This caused him to take a step back due to her sudden weight. But the dog was safe in his arms and he, too, took off for the skies.

Team Lightyear all activated their jet packs. The jet packs, attached to their backs, sprouted wings (or rockets in the case of Booster due to his sheer size) and jumped up, up and away to higher ground.

* * *

Ty was secretly glad, despite the danger that was occurring down below, to have a jet pack. He didn't have one before this mission or any missions in the past when he and Buzz weren't on better terms as they were now, with Buzz saving his hide, slowly disintegrating his Ranger reputation and thus unintentionally leaving Ty to be deemed one of the weakest Rangers who could not even be capable of wielding the simple ability to fly. But now, thanks to his own heroic actions, the reconciliation between him and Buzz, and the rise in support from his fellow Rangers, Ty was awarded with a jet pack to help him in his more dangerous missions. Like this one.

The group left the smoky zone, leaving behind danger and death. Or so they hoped.

The wind was not on their side, as it pushed and struggled to shove them down back to earth. But the flyers wouldn't allow the wind to win in its agenda; their jet packs proved superior with their designs and abilities to withstand its force. They pushed and shoved until they managed to find a way to use the air currents to their advantages. The air, the fresh and cleaner air, was deprived of any noise except the powerful humming of the jet packs. It would have been a good thing to appreciate the moment had it not been for one thing:

It was way too quiet. And too easy. Easy for them all to escape the Chlorms.

But none of them would afford to rest on their laurels now.

Adjusting Pix in his arms, Ty looked back, seeing the smoke fading away into a tiny dot. For some strange reason, the fire reminded him of a moment in his youth when he was a part of the Ranger Scouts. The Ranger Scouts, precursor to the Space Ranger Training Corps and Space Ranger Corps, were out one night learning how to survive in the wild while relying on their skills and non-technological tools. One of the things Ty was proud to have done was help create a fire using a simple matchstick. He could remember the smoke vividly, more so than the fire; the way the smoke curled and lifted itself into the air and into the night sky. The smoke was warming him and his fellow Scouts, but it was clearly warning and sending a signal to the dangerous fauna, and flora, who dared to come near their camp.

It was repeating its actions within the jungle. But rather than protecting him and his friends, it endangered their lives, if only just barely. And the Chlorms. Which reminded him...

"Buzz, I don't think we oughta leave our ship near that fire even if it _is_ fireproof. And something tells me those Chlorm are going to be back very soon."

Hovering in the air with Ozma in arms, Buzz said, "Agreed. Let's get 42 away from here and see if we can find a nearby water source. We find the water, we find a way to put it out."

"You want to put _out_ the fire? Lightyear, at that pace, the fire will have consumed half of Karn!"

Buzz matched Ozma's skeptical eye with a determined one. "We're Space Rangers. We will make sure that every living thing here is saved from that fire."

Ozma softened; his commitment to preserving the animals, the cute ones and the not-so-cute ones, was true and real. Before the two of them took their relationship to a new level, the two of them would endlessly bicker and argue about their respective views on how to handle residents of the animal kingdom. Sometimes the arguing nearly turned into a galactic war between the two sides.

With one acting as the guardian of nature while the other acting as the guardian of justice.

But overtime, as all wars do in their own unusual ways, the two of them came to an understanding and did their best to do the little things to make the other one happy. It was far from an easy feat, as both were known to be quite the stubborn ones, but they were managing to make it work, all for the sake and various sides of their relationship. A pact was formed and it left both of them happier for the better.

Ozma herself was so pleasantly surprised to hear those words that she awarded Buzz with a genuine smile of gratitude. He smiled back, that familiar heroic smile charming his lips.

The romantic moment was broken by Pix.  
She suddenly stirred after being fairly calm throughout the flight; her ears twitched and her nose was once more pointed in the air, nostrils homing in on an invading smell. She sniffed the air to confirm its authenticity before her lips curled up as would any aggressive and wild canine, her growling loud for everyone to hear. Over her snarling, she managed to darkly say, "They're back."

Alarmed at the dog's sudden activeness, everyone looked around for wherever the Chlorms were present.

 _They_ were not present, but a messenger sent on their behalves would come in their places.

"Craters, look out!" At Mira's warning, everyone managed to duck the incoming projectile in time in the air.

The projectile? Silver Fang. Missing its targets, it turned around and hissed, its breath consisting of smoke and firepower. It weaved back and forth, the snake preparing to fight against the birds of flight. The team watched the snake warily, anticipating its next move, with the weapon seemingly doing the same thing as its wedged-shaped head observing them. Due to the unwanted pressures of fighting for their lives, the crew did not manage to retain a vivid picture of the creature's form until now.

Its chrome plated head possessed a barrel to act as an open mouth for its firepower. Within the barrel, there were front sights to help it home in on its victims like a pair of poison-filled fangs. It seemed to have no eyes, but instead had black sockets behind the barrel. Attached to the head was a slim, sleek and long body made of a coil severely wound up and tightly packed together. No one could have seemed to find the end of the body, as the body stretched for miles and miles from safe air to unaffected earth, a deadly reminder of its makers' intelligence. It seemed immune to the wind, staying in place, in comparison to the star flyers.

There would be no way to rapidly evade the snake's bite even if they did manage to use the air currents to their advantage.

But Buzz suddenly had an idea. Under Buzz's command with a mere and quick hand gesture, the team once again formed themselves into a tight group, back to back to back. With this move, they could see every possible direction Silver Fang might try to strike in. It paid off in their favor, for the snake attempted to fire lasers from underneath the group, only to shrink back again under the heavy downpour of Star Command lasers.

One point for the team, none for the snake.

Wanting to get a piece of the giant snake, Pix struggled to pull herself free from Ty's arms, her snapping jaws open. Ty had to double task: tightening his grip on her to prevent gravity from pulling them down and doing his own part to help out in the good fight with his own laser. He might not have been the best shot in the Space Ranger Corps, that honor going to Buzz, but he was handy enough with a wrist laser to use it while holding someone or something in the safety of his arms.

Especially a dog as feisty as Pix. With the way she was trying to worm out of his hold, she could unintentionally make him lose his concentration. He held a good grip on her, literally by increasing his hold on her and figuratively with a pointed glare. "Hey, cut it out! Stop moving!"

Pix snapped, "Why?!"

Ty didn't know which was worse: the teeth or the dog breath. "If you keep moving around like you're doing, I could accidentally drop ya from this altitude right back into the fire! Is that what you'd like?!"

The dog blinked, having never thought of that. She peered over his arm to look down at the inferno down below, his point becoming clear. "Oh... good point." Ears wilting in embarrassment for a brief moment, Pix stopped squirming.

Ty sighed, glad that Pix just made his job slightly easier. Emphasis on slightly.

The others had their own hands tied with the serpent. Each time one of them seemed to have succeeded in destroying the mechanical and sleek reptile, it seemed to have resurrected itself. Silver Fang was battered and bruised, but it showed no signs of slowing down. It nearly separated the group into individuals, trying to divide and conquer them one by one. But each of the Rangers were able to outmaneuver the creature through their own unique gifts-Buzz with his fancy aerobatics and smooth flying skills, Mira with her phasing (or 'ghosting' as Tangeans called it), Booster with his super strength, XR with his handguns due to lacking a wrist laser, and Ty with his powerful kicks, for he was notably powerful with his legs. But in turn, each time one of them tried to find a way to put the weapon down, Silver Fang avoided them.

As evidenced by its pulling away from Booster when he aimed to grab its neck and strangle it to death. It was surprisingly too fast for them to catch. They were, fortunately, fast enough to avoid its blasts. No one had been shot down so far, but it was only a matter of time before their defeat.

They needed a plan and now.

Mira was the first to point this predicament out. "Buzz, don't you think we should move away some place else? If we stay here, that thing'll just keep on ducking our shots!"

After attempting to take out the creature with his own pair of handguns. XR backed her up with a point of his own. "I'm with Mira. We should make like rockets and blast off someplace else away from this thing before it atomizes us. And I don't think that fire's gonna stop anytime soon the way it's movin' and gettin' bigger."

"Which is what we precisely observed as you all took flight up here," a boyish and smarmy voice taunted.

The team whirled around, hands clutched around their wrists or handguns. The three scientists floated with their remote control, squaring off against these primitive beasts.

Epoch deactivated Silver Fang. Obeying its master's commands, it stopped moving and, thankfully, went silent.

Not that it would ease anyone's concerns. Even Ty wasn't about to stop Pix from raising her lips and hackles and growling.

"We anticipated that as soon as the jungle fire started, you would try to find a way out to prevent yourselves from getting trapped. I presumed you would all hide inside the Bio-Sphere, but this was a rather exciting and unpredicted move, as well as an opportunity to trap you. You animals surprise us."

Hated being reminded of his own animal past, Ty sneered, tightening his grip and shielding Pix away from the trio. "Yeah, well, flattery won't get ya anywhere, pal. You're still not getting Pix."

Pix barked loudly in agreement. "Dang straight! I ain't budgin', ya egg-sucking freaks!"

Eon growled back, matching Pix's defiance with his own. "We'll see about that! When we take you back to our world, we will not only put you on the stage, we'll teach you new tricks and proper respect!"

Eon snidely added in, "In the laboratory and out."

"...That **_does_** it." That made her snap. Ozma reached out, grabbed Buzz's wrist, and fired his laser upon the Chlorm with righteous fury!

The close range between the Chlorm and Ozma was so alarmingly that the Chlorm panicked, their fears overwhelming their so-called intelligence and what little common sense they possessed. If they had tails and legs, the tails would have been tucked in between the legs in cowardice. The barrage of laser fire sent them screaming like cats as they floated away.

Buzz was so taken aback by Ozma's act that his jaw dropped. But he regained his senses and reclaimed his wrist away from her. He exploded in red anger. "What in Helene are you doing?! We don't shoot down the criminals!"

Her own anger was equally dark in red. "I told you, Lightbrain, I'll take out **ANY** poacher or threat to wildlife however I can!"

"Even with one of Star Command's weapons?! I'd have to arrest you for manhandling a Space Ranger's wrist laser!"

"Those Chlorm want to take Pix! I'll do what I can to protect her and the wildlife!"

Another war was started. The lovers' quarrel grew worse as now both Buzz and Ozma engaged in a yelling contest, shouting angrily over one another and dissipating the tender moment from before. The other Rangers looked around awkwardly, trying not to look either of the feuding parties in the eye. Pix, meanwhile, was watching the snake gun as it still silently hovered there, dormant until further notice. Although her expression was mainly neutral, her eyes and discouraged ears told a much different story of disappointment.

She grumbled under her breath about the loss of action. Ty could only sigh in exasperation.

But as tempers flared and prides injured themselves, no one expected what would happen next.

* * *

One moment, the air was filled with the sounds of clashing between Buzz and Ozma. Their screeching and bantering was an affair that the team could not bring themselves to put a stop to; after all, one wrong thing said from either of them to try and stop this pointless arguing would turn things ugly for everyone, especially for their captain. And this was a problem that the lovers had to work out for themselves. Even Pix, the one who had been the most vocal and daring speaker out of the group, didn't know what to do for this occasion as she never witnessed a large argument such as this before.

The wind flared in response to the argument, knowing what was taking place and evidently deciding to put a stop to it. It shrieked and shrilled, but no one would dare to allow the wind to carry them away.

But the next moment came in too fast for anyone to take notice right off the bat even with sharp senses of sight, smell or hearing. The team would later recall it was one of the more stranger and coincidental incidents that occurred to them, especially Buzz who was far from one to believe in the supernatural terms of events right away.

But even he could not deny that nature works in mysterious ways, for he, his team, Ty, Ozma and Pix bore witness to the Chlorms' weapon, and the cowardly Chlorms themselves, electrocuted with white lightning.

Lightning that sent Silver Fang and the Chlorms falling down, presumably to their deaths or whatever sort of end machines and scientists like they believed in, although no one at that point knew for sure. The shrill banshee-like screams emitting from the trio of scientists echoed throughout the land, piercing the everyone's auditory senses. Silver Fang was killed, its body now charcoaled with black and loss of life.

The random lightning attack was so fierce and powerful that even the heated argument between Buzz and Ozma disappeared. Everyone looked up, and found themselves in awe by a miracle in the sky.

Storm clouds were floating over the land and hovering over the group. To accompany the unusually welcome sight, the wind continued to howl over the sound of booming thunder approaching. The darkening clouds, seeming to sense nature's plea, hastened and immediately answered the call. In the distance, everyone could see the sky open up and unleash its potent healing. The crew watched the rain descend downwards, blessing the land. The clouds increased in size and seemed to blanket the sky in nothing but grey darkness and water.

Everyone sighed a breath of relief. Now they could land safely without worrying about the smoke or fire, or the Chlorms and Silver Fang for that matter. But that did have to mean one other thing.

Having moved past his quarrel with Ozma, they shared a glance. Buzz softly ordered, "Well Rangers, we'd better get out of the way of the storm and trust nature to do her work. Let's get inside."

And they took cover back down below to seek shelter.

* * *

 **A/N:** I apologize for those who have never seen the name for the gun Silver Fang, but I realized I meant to throw that in and for some reason I forgot about that and explaining why it's there. So I'm making it up to y'all by including that name in this chapter as well as last chapter. Btw, first new update of 2017! 'Tis MOST awesome! I hope everybody makes this new year rock! Happy 2017 and have happy days! :)


	7. Chapter 7

But it wasn't their vessel they sought refuge in from the storm. It was Ozma's Bio-Sphere. No use going out in the rain now.

The storm outside was loud and chaotic, rain lashing and thunder reverberating overhead. But the scene inside was an abnormally serene one after the excitement that passed.

Inside the building and in her workplace, Ozma handed out cups of coffee to the Rangers, with Booster and XR as the exceptions due to their preferred tastes of hot chocolate and rustola. Because XR was a robot, he could only consume oil for energy. Rustola just happened to be his favorite brand to drink. The comforting and reorienting scents of their drink choices provided a break and sense of relief for everyone after the encounters they just had with those measly eggheads. Pix also indulged in the quiet time by resting on a cot, all curled up into a cute little ball without a care in the world. Everyone else engaged in the pleasure of either silence or small talk, grateful for the peace.

Everyone except Buzz. The macchiato Ozma made for him was a nice breather, but it didn't warm him up as he thought it would. Other things occupied his mind. Standing in front of the metal entryway, he stared intensely into his coffee, contemplating over the circumstances at hand.

There was no way the Chlorms would leave the premises without accomplishing their goal of capturing Pix and attacking the team. The Chlorm must have retreated to a safe haven, probably their ship, to wait out the weather and reform a new plan. They were still out there, still hiding, preparing for the right moment to strike. What was to say that they wouldn't try a new trick again? The temptation of taking the ship out to look for those criminals over the jungly terrain was a strong one, but he had to remind himself of the realities surrounding him. The Chlorm could easily spot 42; the ship's large shape was far from a subtle thing to make out in the wide sky, even if the clouds and rain could have provided cover. And as durable as 42 was when it came to the elements, it wasn't exactly a good idea to go out into a storm where lightning could strike more than twice no matter how easily he could maneuver the ship. Flying with his jet pack was plain suicide.

But that didn't mean he couldn't try other methods for search and arrest. It was just a matter of finding them and how to go about arresting them without having to face their weaponry again. Without also having to deal with the storm up above.

As if in response, thunder rumbled overhead, jolting him out of his thoughts. He glared through the ceiling, wanting to stare into the celestial abyss and its black mood.

Ozma took a break from conversing with Mira to approach Buzz in his edgy state of mind. "What's the matter, Lightyear? Coffee not strong enough for you?"

"I'm just thinking. I know that those Chlorm are lurking out there somewhere. They're crafty and _devious_." Emphasis on devious.

"Hmph, I think _that's_ a given. But I don't think you should worry about them."

Buzz gave her a look that clearly stated she was dead wrong. "Oh?"

She took a slow sip of her own cup of joe, a delicious cappuccino. " _Oh_ , yes. I've experienced storms like this one, and I can tell you that Karn storms are the best at driving out poachers and other unwelcome visitors from here. I may not know these Chlorm all too well, but judging from how they greeted those lightning attacks, I'm going to assume they don't like it when nature fights back."

"No, they don't. But that doesn't mean they're going to give up that easily. I got a feeling they're going to try something again. Call it Ranger intuition."

" _Ranger_ intuition?" Ozma's crooked smile was ignored by Buzz. "I can't say I've ever heard of it. Tell me, are you sure that's your Ranger intuition acting up or did you have a screw loose from the storm blowing up?" She kept her smile on as he rounded on her, his ego flaring.

"No! My Ranger instincts are _never_ wrong. I'm telling you, they're up to something! And I'm gonna find out what it is!"

"How? By flying through this storm? Good luck. You'd be shot down by lightning in seconds if you were to take off now. You could try trekking through the jungle, but I wouldn't advise it."

"Don't tell me, I know. Because of the animals' feeding time?"

"You remember. Well done, Lightbrain." She took another sip from her coffee mug, all the while ignoring Buzz's scathing pout.

Mira, who had been silently observing the whole conversation between Buzz and Ozma, didn't want to hear another argument. She hastily suggested, "Hey, Buzz. I-I was thinking, we should ch-check on 42 to make sure the ship's alright. We co-could also get in a call to Star Command a-and tell them what's going on. Y'know, procedure a-and everything-"

Ty cut in, "Mira's right. Besides, if those Chlorm are still around, and if they're as smart as you say they are, they might have seen 42, and I wouldn't want them catching us by surprise if they somehow located the ship and stowed away on board if the ship is trapped in some mud or something. It wouldn't hurt to make sure the ship's safe and in working order. And we haven't contacted Star Command for some time. I think they might want an update by now." Ty gave a pointed look to Buzz, indicating he would have no need for another useless squabble. Just because Ty would support Buzz's relationship with Ozma, be it professional or romantic, that didn't mean he'd be subjected to another argument.

Buzz looked over at his two sensible teammates and, after mulling over their options, sighed and gave a nod of consent. "Rangers, you're right. We'd better make sure 42's engines aren't clogged up with mud, and I don't want to skip out on important procedures. And," he said as he felt inspiration take hold of him, "we can even explore around the area and set up lookout points in case they come back here. We can each take turns keeping an eye on the ship from within and on the Bio-Sphere from the outside with our surveillance drones." Downing his now lukewarm coffee, he set it down and rounded up his team. "Mira, Booster and XR, come with me to 42. Ty, you stay here with Dr. Furbanna and Pix."

Ty ran a hand through his hair. It was a habit he'd perform whenever he felt stress or uncertainly grip him. "Buzz, are you sure you don't...well, are you sure you and your team will be alright out there in the storm? It looks pretty dark out there and from what I can see, you wouldn't be able to move that fast, let alone move a whole muscle, with it raining buckets."

"We're Space Rangers, Ty. We'll make do. Besides, I need to have somebody stay here with Ozma and Pix in case those Chlorm come back or if Ozma needs help with anything."

Ty started to object again, but much to his surprise, Ozma came to his aid. "Lightyear, we're tough. We can take care of ourselves. But..." She looked at Ty and gave a small smile. "I don't mind having him stay inside with us. I'd like to know him a bit better. If you'd like, Ty."

The smile was real; she did want to know him better which was a rarity for her. She normally didn't want anything to do with strangers, or just people in general, but Ty was proving himself to be an likable conversationalist and decent person. He also did seem to have quite the common sense in the group as he previously demonstrated, next to Mira when she wasn't with Buzz, and he and Pix did seem to enjoy each other's company, to which Ozma appreciated. Of course it helped to know he had experience with animals in the past and knew how to handle them, at least when it came to dogs, and he managed to look after Pix well, as evidenced when they were flying away from the fire and the Chlorms' weapon.

So why not converse with him and see who he was underneath that Ranger personality?

Ty studied Ozma as he considered her proposal. Since Buzz was going to go out there regardless of what Ty said, and since he was the leader of this mission, there would really be no point in stopping him, would there? Ty did, however, feel a little uncomfortable about staying in the same room with Ozma. He didn't think her to be evil, but after he witnessed Ozma's stubbornness in full play today, he didn't want to tread on thin ice. But she did seem truly interested in talking to him, and she wasn't all bad. She could be polite when she wanted to be, and she was certainly passionate about her work. And it might provide a nice respite from another war of words from developing if he were to stay behind and chat with her, and he did sincerely like Pix.

So why not give her the benefit of the doubt and see what she was like underneath that icy wall?

And so, he smiled his own small smile and nodded. "Sure...I'd like that."

The booming thunder outside agreed.

* * *

Shortly after the team left, Ozma brewed Ty two new batches of coffee for him and herself. The two managed to kick back against a few chairs Ozma had gotten out of her metallic blue case she used for storing folding chairs and sleeping bags. The chairs weren't exactly meant for reclining, on account of the space being used more as a workshop than a living room, but they'd have to do.

For a few moments, they didn't say anything to each other. Instead, they watched Pix sleeping on her cot. Once more, thunder clapped, but Pix didn't stir from her slumber.

"Wow. Pix can sleep like a log through this storm, huh?"

Ozma put a hand on her lap, all too proud to talk about Pix. "You'd better believe it. She can sleep through a number of things, but if an emergency rises or if she smells or hears something interesting, she can wake up and be alert in a matter of seconds. Dustchasers usually need to sleep extensively to regain their energy before they're on the move again."

"Oh yeah? How long does it usually take for Pix to regain her energy?"

"It varies here and there. Sometimes an hour, sometimes five, sometimes only five minutes. It depends on how arduous the task was, but I trust her to know her own sleep cycle. Most of the tasks I send her on aren't too bad for her to tackle, if I do say so myself."

"How many tasks do you put her on a daily basis?"

"Hm... about four to five. Sometimes six, but I don't like to push her. I can only give her so much to do before she tires." Ozma sipped her coffee.

"Well, it's definitely good for her to be out and running with all that energy she has. She's the fastest dog I've ever seen, and one of the most personable ones I've ever interacted with."

Ozma smirked. "I'll be sure to pass on your compliments to her."

"Heh, thanks." Ty supped his own coffee, a latte macchiato, before speaking again. "Y'know, I just realized something. Up until today, I've never heard of dustchasers and I know why now. But how did you personally come to hear about them?"

"Thank my friend, _The Researcher_."

"...Come again?" Who - or what - was The Researcher?

She raised an unsurprised brow. "You mean you don't know?"

"Know what?"

"Hold on, I'll just show you instead." Ozma put down her cup next to her chair and stood up. She walked over to a bookshelf perched behind her work table and pulled out a magazine-sized journal. She showed it to Ty and explained, "This is _T_ _he_ _Researcher_. It's what we animal researchers like to read in what little downtime we have on the job. And it brings us some other nice perks; we get to learn new information about the latest in animal research before anyone else does, even Star Command's space cowboys. No offense."

Ty didn't take too kindly to that Ozma's tone of superiority, but he wasn't about to let that little detail deter him from how pleasantly the conversation was going so far with him and Ozma. Instead of replying with bitter sarcasm, he settled with raising an eyebrow of his own, only in annoyance. "Yes, well... what's so special about this magazine?"

She brought the article back with her and sat back down in her seat. Placing the magazine on her lap, she flipped through its pages to find a certain page number and when she did, she pointed a sharp finger to the article she wanted to show Ty. "What's special about it is that this month's issue covers everything that's been known about dustchasers."

Indeed it did. There were fantastic photographs taken of dogs, all dogs at different stages of their lives, doing what dogs are known to do: play, eat, jump, bark, laze around, search, smell, and so on. Ozma explained, "From what we know, these dogs were bred on Verdentia from ancient times to serve as a dog who could perform any kind of duty you give him or her. It's believed that they are the descendants of dogs who worked with the original protectors of the galaxy back when the planet's capital was on Planet X."

Ty put down his own cup on the floor and pored over the article, his eyes scanning back and forth to absorb all the information on this breed. "I guess that makes sense; they can thrive in deserts where there's plenty of room to run."

"Exactly. Here's a picture of one at its top speed." She flipped the page, revealing a photograph of a dustchaser running. But it wasn't just running, it was a blur.

According to the article, dustchasers got their name from speeds; they could run so fast that the dust left behind chased after _them_. And there was photographic evidence right there in the copy. The image captured on film revealed a ghost-like blur of a dog, caught in a perfect sense of overflowing movement as it raced from one side of the photograph to the other, earthy dust left behind in its wake. Its fur color was a shimmering snow white. Its twin scleras were bright blue with the pupils a mysterious black. Its body was lean yet muscular, built on top of long legs. A short mane hung from the top of its head and chest, nearly assembling a lion's mane. Nestled within the mane was a dark green collar, its design similar to Pix's collar. Long ears sat on its head, with one of the battered ears having a notch in it for unknown reasons. The dog seemed to blend into the wind, disappearing in a blink of an eye.

It was like a painting had come to life right before Ty's very eyes. "Craters... you weren't kidding when you said they could clock up to six hundred miles per hour. Pix's speed today was something, but the dog's speed here? I gotta give props to to the photographer for how this image turned out."

As if to highlight the photo's mystique and to brighten the dog's white fur, a quick burst of lightning flashed outside. The duo could see the bolt of lightning flashing and then disappearing from sight. Seeing the bolt outside prompted Ty to realize it had been some time since Team Lightyear had made contact with him. He wondered how things were going with Buzz and his team.

He would find out. "Dr. Furbanna, I'm going to need to check in with Buzz and his team. Would you excuse me for a minute?"

"Sure, be my guest." He gave his thanks and went over to a corner to open up his communicator in a compartment built into the suit's sleeves, which was a necessary compartment for every Space Ranger to have for communication purposes. While he tried to talk to Buzz, Ozma stayed in her seat. She picked up her mug and was about to drink from it again when she realized she was down to the last drop. She got up, placed the magazine down on her chair and went back to the coffee maker to make another batch.

While she was occupying herself with the coffee, Ty was occupying himself with the communicator. "Hey Buzz, are you there? I wanted to check in with you." He patiently waited for Buzz to pick up. A few seconds later...

" _Buzz here, Ty. Is something wrong?_ "

"That's what I'd like to find out from you and your team. Things are fine here, but what about your end? I haven't heard from ya in a while."

" _Ah, don't worry, buddy, things are sailing smoothly here. The ship's fine and in working order. We checked around the area and there's no sign of those Chlorm anywhere in this miserable darkness."_

Although Buzz couldn't see his expression, Ty frowned at his friend's disappointment. Not that he couldn't blame him, but in this weather, the chances of running into those creatures again weren't very high.

A sigh could be heard on the other end as Buzz went on, optimism replacing disappointment. _"We've already set up a watch with three of our surveillance drones. We've got four more just in case the first three are carried away by the storm, but the storm is starting to move on so we might have better luck catching them off guard!"_

Ty cast his eyes downward and off to the side. He didn't feel so sure about that. The storm's meteorological orchestra was seemingly drawing to a close, yes, but Ty wasn't feeling Buzz's optimism quite so well. Whether it was due to Ty's cynicism or simply because the storm did a great job of scaring those goons away, he couldn't bring himself to agree with his friend. They had to be wary on their toes about those Chlorm, but there was no way to tell if they'd ever see those guys again.

 _"Ty? Are you there?"_

The man in question cleared his throat and assured, "Er, yeah, I'm here. Just take it easy, alright? We can't be too sure of what will happen once the storm moves someplace else."

 _"True. You do have a point, buddy. But I have a feeling we'll see them before the day ends. Ranger instincts, you know. By the way, how are things progressing over there?"_

"Well like I said, things are fine here. Nothing's happened thus far. If anything does come up, you'll be the first to know."

 _"Excellent. Well, we're gonna finish up our task and then if nothing happens once the storm passes, we'll call it a day. I'll let you know when we're finished up."_

"Roger, Buzz. Over and out."

With the conversation at its end, Ty hung up and closed his communicator and returned to his chair. By the time he got back, Ozma finished making her coffee and met him back in the chairs.

Her magazine forgotten, Ozma asked rather cheekily, "So I can trust nothing's happened yet?"

Ty shook his head, ignoring Ozma's tone. "Not if you count the storm moving on and the drones set in place. Other than that, Buzz and his team haven't seen anything out of the ordinary yet. But I gotta be honest, I don't think they're going to have much luck seeing anything out there. It's like you said; if they were that scared by the lightning attacks, then it's possible they might not want to come back here. Or if they do, they're not gonna want to face off against us again after the fight we gave them." He crossed his arms as he contemplated over the situation. "But I honestly don't know either way. We'll have to figure something out. I don't want to see those guys again or see Pix get into any danger... not if I can help it."

Ozma didn't say anything, but instead studied him the way she would study a stratoshrike during its migration.

Ty realized he was being scrutinized. "What? Was it something I said?"

"Partly."

"...Is that a problem, ma'am?"

"No, actually. It's refreshing."

"Huh? What's refreshing?" What was she getting at?

She folded her arms as she watched Pix on her cot. "Your attitude is refreshing, Ty. You're not like the other Rangers I've met, at least where Lightyear is concerned. In the past, when I've seen Lightyear and his team in action, they often did things in a grandiose way. And they still do, at least in the times I've been with them. Sometimes I almost think, if you don't mind me saying so, that Space Rangers often prove themselves to be just like animals - no...lower than them - whenever I see them attacking animals who haven't done anything wrong all for the sake of saving themselves or people. I'm not much of a people person, and I don't want to see people get hurt, but attacking animals who are merely following their instincts? That is something I still don't agree with.

Although..." A soft smile eased onto her features. "Lightyear and his team have gotten better about it. Not too much, but they are getting better. They could learn a lot from you. You seem like you've got a good head on your shoulders over things like that. I was impressed with the way you watched out for Pix when we were in the air." She turned to Ty to gift him her smile, but she couldn't give him the smile. She could only grant him a bemused frown because he wasn't looking at her.

Instead, he was staring at his quivering hands, allowing them to shake like they had been hit with a cold spell. His eyes harbored no emotion, a pair of frozen voids staring into nothingness. His mind took him back to that horrible incidents, replaying those certain nights and days all over again. He didn't want to let Ozma see him like this, but he couldn't help it. There was something unintentionally hurtful and true about her words that was severely bothering him in more ways than one.

Something involving guilt and shame. It felt so different when the subject involving animals attacking and Rangers proving themselves to be either monsters or heroes was discussed with Buzz and Nebula, considering Buzz was there and directly played a role in the events that transpired back on that planet, before and after the fact. And of course, Nebula was his commanding officer. The commander needed to know these types of problems. But hearing Ozma talk about this ugly topic even when she had no knowledge on what Ty had been through before he came to Karn? It became so entirely unreal and horrible to think about and discuss with an outsider.

Now he wished he was with Buzz out there instead of in here.

Lightning and thunder collided with each other, and it was because of their combined powers that Ozma saw how literally shaken he seemed to be.

"Ty? What's the matter? Are you cold?"

He shook his head. He gripped his hands to get a better hold on them, but still they shook. Feeling unwanted pressure in his body, he shut his eyes tightly and breathed deeply in and out to regain his breath.

And that was what finally stirred Pix from her slumber. Her ears flicked upwards and she lifted her head towards Ty. "Hm?" In a standard confused canine response, she tilted her head at him.

When Ozma noticed Pix had awakened, she beckoned Pix to come over to them. Pix obeyed, got up from her cot and stood before her master, awaiting orders. Ozma patted her dog on the head and bade her to sit down.

She did so, but she didn't do it without throwing a confused glance Ty's way. He didn't look so good. Was he having a hard time breathing?  
Without thinking about it, and without any command issued by her owner, Pix plopped her head down on Ty's lap.

The warm weight dropped in his lap released Ty from his fight with himself, causing him to open his eyes and see Pix's head resting on his lap.

"..."

Her large puppy-dog eyes, coupled with her wagging tail and concerned whines, all provided a much-needed distraction from his sudden...moment. The corners of his mouth tugged upwards and he found himself smiling gently and in gratitude towards the dog. He reached out, wanting to pet her in between her long ears but couldn't go forward with it because he remembered that her owner was there.

She nodded her permission. "Of course you may."

And Pix grew a smile of her own. The itching behind her ears would barely go away even if she tried to scratch them herself whenever they annoyed her, but having a human around to scratch her ears was so nice. Now she had two humans to do that for her! But more importantly, whatever Ty was experiencing was going away and he was grinning.

"Good dog, Pix. Thanks."

"Glad I could help!" A happy bark would follow soon after, encouraging Ty and Ozma to chuckle a little.

Now at ease, his breath returned to normal and his mind was clear...for now.

But it wouldn't let him off the hook from Dr. Furbanna's curiosity. "So are you feeling better now, Ty? Was it something _I_ said?"

She wasn't shocked when Ty stayed quiet and focused his energies into stroking Pix in between her ears. She did want to know what caused him to freeze up like that, but she didn't want to put her foot into her mouth by saying anything further about the Rangers. She had a distinct feeling that she might have come across a sore and especially personal spot of Ty's. He didn't react with aggravation like Rangers, or at least Team Lightyear anyway, did whenever she ranted about them and their methods. No, his reaction was deeply rooted in fear and pain.

Ty sighed. Suddenly feeling thirsty, he reached down with his other hand to pick up the mug off the floor and have another sip of coffee. As the mug reached his lips, he met with only a few drops in the cup. He frowned and proceeded to rise out of his chair, but Ozma stopped him with a hand. "No, no, don't. I'll get another cup for you."

He blinked. "Uh... are you sure? I can get an-"

"Don't worry about it, Ty. There's no charge here."

"Well..." He glanced down at Pix, who was staring up at him with those soulful eyes that all dogs were born to have. She didn't want him to get up when she was comfortable where she was. So he respected her wishes. "Alright. If you want to, sure, but only if you're getting some yourself."

She raised a brow, but only shrugged lightly. "Fair enough. Give me your cup."

Once she retrieved his cup, she grabbed her own and went back to the coffee maker. Once the coffee was ready, she poured the coffee into his empty cup. Her own cup was halfway empty, but that would change when she added more to fill it to the top. Both cups now filled to the brim, she returned to her chair and handed Ty his steaming cup. He thanked her and took a sip. A nice and long sip, the liquid warming his heart and head, and giving him the courage needed to explain himself. He did owe her a reason for his change in behavior.

After he drank, he placed the cup back down onto the floor and sighed again. He absent-mindedly stroked Pix's head again before he spoke up. "It was something you mentioned...that bit about animals and... and Space Rangers." He closed his eyes again, resigned to a bitter fate. "I... I was...involved in an incident similar to what you just described. Something involving the Rangers proving themselves to be one thing or the other." He was quick to assure, "I didn't hurt any animals, if that's what you're thinking. But...I did hurt someone. I did _attack_ someone. At the time, I wasn't myself. I was under..." His hands started to shake on their own accord again, but this time, he shook them right back, as if to tell them to stop it. He took a deep breath. "I was under a lot of stress, and I took it out on someone by mistake. Someone who's close to me who almost paid the price."

Just because he had to tell Ozma the truth didn't mean he had to tell _all_ of it.

Pix nudged Ty's hand for some more scratches to her ears and he complied, gently rubbing her head.

Ozma asked carefully, "Well... who? Who was it?"

Now would come a difficult answer to a difficult question. "...Would you believe it was Buzz Lightyear himself I hurt? My own best friend?"

He braced himself for the impact.

* * *

 **A/N:** I have a distinct feeling that I might get some flak here for Ozma's behavior and how she unintentionally caused Ty to freeze up, so I feel I should write up an explanation now. I think it's a safe bet to believe that there are readers out there who don't like Ozma's character. It's certainly fine to dislike or like a character, but going overboard with the bashing and hating is not cool. While I'm strictly neutral about her, characterizing her as a monster because of her upfront personality or hating her because she seems to get in the way of a preferred pairing is, bluntly speaking, wrong. It is possible to ignore canon and ship whatever you want to ship.

She is, above all else, human. She has her good points and bad points, and I'd like to give her more than what she was given by the fandom or even what the show gave her. If you're a not a fan of Ozma and Buzz together, or you're a fan of Team Lightyear, and you feel offended in any way, I do apologize. I am not trying to offend people who dislike Ozma.

But keep in mind that she has the right to feel irritated by TL for their actions against animals. I am not saying that they were in the right or wrong to do what they did, but she is an animal researcher and it's clear to see that she loves every animal there is in the galaxy. It's in her job description to protect animals from unwanted dangers. How she goes about it is not always the best route, but that doesn't mean she can't learn to deal with these sorts of problems in other ways. She can grow to be more than how she's seen by people if she was given a chance. And I'm going to give her that chance as I write on.


End file.
